Together, We Ride!
by nathan.maccallum.75
Summary: All seems well in Ylisse. However, Odin's return home from Nohr sets into motion a chain of events that force our Ylissean heroes to draw their weapons one final time, as they are thrust into battle with the fate of their world - and all others - at stake. The culmination of my previous works - this is meant as the finale of my 4 main stories. Rated T for death and mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Odin's eyes snapped open the moment the sunlight gleamed through the windows, shining on his face. The man sat up abruptly, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

It was finally time. He was heading home.

The Dark mage had been living in Nohr for a few years now, serving as a retainer to Leo, one of the Nohrian Princes. Following their victory over the Hoshidan forces and unmasking of the true King Garon, himself, Selena, and Laslow had taken Corrin and the others down to Valla, managing to defeat Anankos with the combined strength of Nohr and the remaining Hoshidan forces. Now, his purpose was finally complete. It was time to return home.

"Odie, it's too early…" A muffled voice next to him complained. The Dark mage turned over to see his wife, Elise, stuffing her head into her pillow. Her long blonde hair was out of its usual pigtails, flowing messily all over the bed they shared. He gently poked at her ribs, trying to prod the Princess into getting up.

"No time is too early today, my darling!" The mage insisted. "We have quite the journey across space and time ahead of us today!"

Elise grumbled inaudibly, finally rolling over and slowly sitting up, rubbing her eyes. The usually cheerful Princess leaned over to rest her head on Odin's shoulder, smiling contentedly.

"I'm happy that you're so excited," She told the man, "But I can't help but feel nervous…to meet your family, and all!"

Odin rolled his eyes. "I've already told you, they're gonna love you!" He replied. "Father and Mother will be so excited to see how short you are!"

Elise giggled. "I love you, you dork." She mumbled with a sleepy smile, nuzzling her head up against the man's shoulder.

After getting his things prepared, Odin went and found Prince Leo and Niles to personally say goodbye. The two of them had been quite good friends to him over the years.

"I would never admit it, but you're going to be hard to replace, Odin." Leo explained with a slight smile. "You and Niles may be a tad…eccentric, but you're both quite valuable to me. As warriors… and as friends of mine. I'll truly miss you."

Niles chuckled slightly at his Prince. "Oh please, Lord Leo, we'll be perfectly fine without our bumbling mage here. After all, it just gives more time for you and I to spend together…"

Leo blushed slightly in embarrassment, giving Odin and Niles a good laugh. The conversation then returned to a more serious demeanour as Leo turned his attention back to Odin.

"So…Ylisse, huh? I can't say I've ever heard of that place… I read through half of Nohr's library and still couldn't find an inkling of such a realm," He remarked, a shade of skepticism bleeding through his voice.

Odin nodded in reply. He didn't want to mess with time by telling his friends too much, but he was 'in the past' while in Nohr, judging from some of the events he had seen. As far as he could tell, the Ylisse in their universe would be just finishing the fight against Grima. However, it was hard to be sure of anything, and nothing was more dangerous than messing with the timeline. It was best if he left his Nohrian comrades in the dark as much as possible.

Later in the day, Odin and the others assembled in front of Castle Krakenburg. Heading back to Ylisse with the couple were Laslow, Selena, and their daughter, Soleil. Odin and Elise's daughter, Ophelia, was married to Corrin, and thus made the decision to stay behind with her husband and their young daughter, Kana.

The family hugged each other in one last tight embrace before leaving. Ophelia was sobbing uncontrollably at this point, realizing the possibility that she may never see her parents ever again. Kana, her daughter, was standing nearby, also balling her eyes out. Corrin was behind her, rubbing his daughter's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Ophelia…" Odin told her, "We'll find a way to come visit or something, somehow. I promise."

This declaration was only met with more sobs from Odin's daughter, much to the chagrin of her parents.

"I…I promise I'll make you proud, father! F-for you…and all the other chosen ones!" She wailed.

Odin smiled. "I know you will, Ophelia," He calmly replied. "You are my daughter, after all."

There were many others also gathered nearby to send off their friends. Leo, Camilla, and Xander were saying goodbye to their youngest sibling, unsure of if they would ever see her again. It was, overall, a bittersweet moment for everyone.

"Before you go, you should take this with you," Corrin suggested, passing a small winged staff to Elise.

"But…this is the Bifrost!" Elise protested. "I can't-"

Corrin shook his head. "It's not doing us any good just sitting here," He retorted. "Use it if you need to, though I hope that day never comes."

"What does that do, Papa?" Kana asked curiously, eyes sparkling as she gazed at the shining staff.

"It can bring back the dead," Corrin told his daughter with a bit of a smile. "But…only if used shortly after someone's death. If you wait too long…that person is gone, and there is nothing you can do to save them. We found this in the Hoshidan treasures, but unfortunately, we found it too late for me to use it to save Ryoma…the staff only has one use, but if used properly, it could save someone's life."

"Which is why you should keep it here, I think." Laslow spoke up. "I mean, I doubt we'll have any use for it over there…everything was pretty calm when we left."

"Just take it." Corrin insisted. "Consider it a parting gift, all right?"

Elise nodded, clutching the staff close to her chest. Ophelia finally walked back to join Corrin, who pulled her into a tight embrace.

Odin turned to the others, holding out the mystic blue Orb that would take them home.

"Now then…put your hands on, everyone. Its finally time."

The dark mage turned to the Nohrians assembled around him, managing a bittersweet smile. "We will meet again someday…the darkness within me has decreed it!" He called to them; as the group slowly evaporated into thin air, disappearing into the wind, and across time, back to their home.

* * *

 **Hey everyone. It's been a while.**

 **It took quite some times, but I finally decided to upload this story. For those who don't know, I finished this long ago on my own but never uploaded it onto this site. As mentioned in the description, it serves as the finale to my previous works (The Princess and Her Frogs, The Tactician, the Princess, the Sword Hand and the Dreamer, and A Light in the Darkness). It's worth noting that this story does include characters from other games in the Fire Emblem series as well - I tried not to add too many, as not to make the cast too bloated, but I'll leave who shows up as a surprise for now.**

 **This was/is my first attempt at my own completely original storyline, so any criticisms on what I can improve or what you would like to see are of course greatly appreciated. This story also sees the death of quite a few characters who were integral to some of my previous stories, so I apologize in advance if I ended up killing off one of your favourite characters.**

 **Thanks for stopping by, and reading. The first...10 chapters or so should go up in fairly quick succession, as there is very little I have to change from them. After that, expect a more usual upload schedule as I'm changing some of the plot from my original draft of this story.**

 **I hope you will stick around and continue to support this story as I write it.**

 **-Nate**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There was a loud bang as Odin and the others landed with a thud in a large grassy field. As the dark mage slowly got up, he looked down at himself and noticed quite a few sudden changes. First, his clothing had transformed back from the tight dark mage robes he wore in Nohr to the yellow Myrmidon garb from his homeland. Secondly, the brand on his hand had finally resurfaced, much to his excitement. He looked anxiously over at Elise, who was staring up at his hair.

"Since when is your hair brown?" She asked. Odin chuckled slightly, running his hand through his spiky hair.

"That's my natural hair colour, actually," He explained. "It looks like everything is changing back to normal now that we're back in Ylisse. I still have my tomes on me, though…my sword hand twitches! I need…the fell blade, Missiletainn!"

"And I suppose we can call each other by our actual names again, right…Owain?"

The young former swordsman chuckled at the sound of his real name being used once again. It was oddly therapeutic to hear.

"Ah, of course, Sir Inigo," He replied with a smile.

"So, uh… where are we, you guys?" Soleil questioned, looking about the surrounding area. The open grassy field was surrounded by forest, with a small town nearby.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is the field where my father first showed up, I think…" Owain answered, quickly recognizing the terrain, "So we're close to Ylisstol."

"Well, we're just getting older from standing here!" Severa snapped with a slight smile, shoving her two friends playfully. "Let's get moving folks!"

The group shared a laugh as they began their short trip to Ylisse. As they walked, Owain and Inigo had a small conversation over what they thought the rest of their friends and family were up to.

"Father and the others at the castle are working hard, no doubt…" Owain mused. "I'm sure they're going to be quite busy upon our return! They always have something to do!"

-IN CASTLE YLISSTOL-

"98, 99…100!" Ricken yelled, finally turning around from having his head up against the wall. "Ready or not, here I come!" He cried, his voice echoing about the castle. The mage looked about the expansive hall he was in, quickly scanning the room to see if anyone had tried to hide there.

There had been hardly a whisper of violence in quite a long time in Ylisse. There was the minor spat here and there, but never anything serious. And, frankly, things were getting quite stale. For the soldiers of the Ylissean army, they spent their days walking about the town and doing relatively nothing. The former shepherds within the castle, however, found their own ways to amuse themselves. Hide and seek was just one of their many random activities that the long days would consist of. After all, it was much more fun than just sitting around.

As Ricken walked through the courtyard of the castle, he heard a slight rustling in the bushes nearby. Two pointy white ears were sticking straight out of the bushes, giving the man a good laugh.

"At least you're getting the hang of this, darling, but you might want to keep your ears down next time…and it might be easier to hide when you're not in Taguel form…"

Panne, Ricken's wife, let out a defeated sigh as she slowly walked out from behind the bush, transforming back into her 'human' form. She smiled at her husband.

"I have much to master about this 'hide and seek' you and the others play," She admitted, "But it is quite enjoyable."

Ricken grinned at her, and the two headed back into the castle together.

The next place Ricken looked was the armoury. A quick scan of the room didn't reveal anyone, and he turned to leave before hearing a muffled grunt from the supply closet nearby.

"Frederick, stop making noise! And why the hell are you even hiding in here in the first place?"

"But Milord, if we don't hide together, you may be assassinated! I am simply making noise in case someone has locked the door to this closet from the outside! After all, this dangerous game puts you into such vulnerable situations!"

"Well, I'm going to die if you stay on my lap…"

Ricken popped open the door of the supply closet to see Chrom sitting inside, with Frederick sitting on the man, much to the latter's chagrin.

"Oh, look! The others! It appears we were unsuccessful in this game." Frederick declared with a slight smile. "Perhaps if you studied the books I have been giving you, we would be victorious in a round!"

Chrom, brushing the dust off his armour, rolled his eyes. "If you would hide somewhere else, I think it would increase my chances…" He grumbled, getting a slight chuckle from Ricken as Frederick and Chrom walked out of the closet, joining them in their search for the others.

With their now additional manpower, finding many of the others was quite the easy task. Lissa was discovered up in the rafters (Much to Frederick's horror, as it was 'much too dangerous' for her), and Sumia was out in the stables, tending to the animals as she hid.

It was much later in the night when most of the shepherds had been rounded up, with only two remaining: Nathan and Morgan. The two tactical geniuses always seemed to be able to outlast the others, finding brand new places to conceal themselves every time.

Morgan's uber-competitiveness certainly didn't help. The blonde tactician would accept nothing less than absolute victory, meaning she wouldn't give up her hiding spot until she knew the last person was found, which always seemed to be Nathan. Her father would find some of the strangest spots to conceal himself, and was more than willing to get his hands dirty in order to win.

As it turned out, today was another one of those cases. The group had found Morgan, hidden deftly inside of a treasure chest lying in one of the many halls of the castle, leaving Nathan as the winner. After yelling to try and get the man to come out, he was finally found hidden in the closet of cleaning supplies, beneath a pile of old brooms and mops. The tactician had fallen asleep waiting for the others to find him, and was quite amused at taking another round of hide and seek.

"Wait, hold on a second…" Nathan murmured, looking around at the group assembled.

"Where's Kellam?"

Ricken let out a loud groan. "Gods Dammit! Every time! It is impossible to find that man!"

The group shared a long laugh, realizing that there was a real winner. They had started playing the game much earlier in the day, and had completely forgotten about the armoured knight. They had played at least ten rounds now, and technically, Kellam had won every single one.

"Are you guys serious?" Kellam whined, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "I've been standing in the armoury this whole time, pretending to be an empty suit of armour! And here I was, thinking I had found the greatest hiding spot…"

Nathan laughed at the hulking man, giving him a bit of a grin. "Technically, it was a great hiding spot. But, then again, you could be anywhere and I doubt we could find you…"

The others murmured in agreement, getting a slight smile from the General. Kellam was always quite good-natured, and could always be found with a smile on his face. When you could see him, that is.

At this point, it was late enough in the night that the shepherds decided to call it a day, heading their separate ways to turn in for the night. Nathan and Lissa made their way up to their room together, and the Princess sprawled out on their bed as Nathan made his way to his desk, deciding to look over a few old strategies. It made him feel like an old man looking back on 'the wars', but as a tactician he still took it upon himself to study up in case of attack. After all, things were bound to change eventually.

A familiar looking group of figures entering the castle courtyard caught the curious eye of the tactician.

"No, that can't be…"

Lissa looked over at her husband. "What is it, honey?" She asked.

Without a word, Nathan shot up out of his chair, rushing over to Lissa and nearly pulling her off of the bed.

"Whoa, whoa! What's going-NO. NO WAY."

Lissa cut herself off as she noticed Nathan snatching the black and blue Missiletainn up from it's home of collecting dust in the corner of the room.

"Is it really him?" Lissa asked eagerly, the excitement seeping into her voice. Nathan nodded with a huge grin. He offered the Princess his hand.

"Come on, we have a son to go see." He told her. The two then dashed out of the room together, as fast as their legs would carry them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Elise marveled at the beautiful architecture that was Castle Ylisstol. The massive fortress just had such a brighter atmosphere to it compared to her old home in Nohr. Everyone they had met so far since entering the castle and surrounding area had seemed very cheerful, and all recognized her husband, as well as Inigo and Severa, as some sort of war heroes. There were also many who only knew Owain as "the son of Nathan", which did nothing to help the Princess's nerves at meeting her in-laws for the first time. Everyone in this land seemed to have something to say about Odin's parents, and they seemed highly respected and adorned.

"AH! YOUNG MASTER OWAIN!" A booming voice yelled from across the small courtyard. The group looked over the way and spotted a wide-eyed Frederick charging towards them.

"I had heard news of a strange band of individuals entering the castle, but I did not know it was you, young sir!" The man explained excitedly. "Oh, Sir Nathan and Lady Lissa will be overjoyed!"

Elise tilted her head slightly at the tall, heavily armoured great knight. Was he…Nathan and Lissa's retainer, or something? He certainly seemed to act like he was.

"Where we've been is a bit of a long story Frederick, so I think we'll save it for when everyone else shows back up…" Inigo told the man, who nodded in acknowledgement.

"But what brings you back around here? I think the last we heard of you, you had left to go to Wyvern Valley with Cherche to retire…"

The great knight smiled. "Alas, I had gone there…" He explained, "…But the pull of Milords was simply too strong! I simply could not leave them here without my services, or they could perish! So I returned, with my Wife remaining in wyvern valley. I go home to visit quite often, however."

This made Elise slightly more confused. So he…was a retainer, but then retired, but then came back because he loved his job so much? For the young Princess, this was already getting far too difficult to follow.

She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted two stampeding figures running across the courtyard, one carrying a blue-and-black sword that she couldn't help but feel she had seen somewhere before.

Owain rushed to meet them, and the three met in a tight group hug. Rushing up behind them and jumping into the pile was a short blonde female in black robes.

From what Elise could tell, there was a lot of crying from the group, so it was pretty easy to identify them as Owain's family. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach as the group finished their tight embrace, and Owain motioned to Elise to come join them.

"Father, Mother, Sister…this is my wife, Princess Elise of Nohr."

Elise looked over at her extended family, managing a timid smile and a small wave towards them.

"H…hello…"

Lissa's eyes appeared to sparkle as she looked at her daughter-in-law.

"Oh my gods, you're beautiful!" She marveled, before turning to Owain. "See, I told you you'd find the perfect woman!"

Elise blushed heavily as her husband laughed heartily. "I suppose you were right, mother. Although, I did have some help…" He added, winking at Morgan, who winked back with a bit of a grin.

"And she's so short, too! Way to keep up the family tradition, big brother!" Morgan joked. "I still don't know how you're so tall compared to the rest of our family!"

"Well actually, my daughter is tall too-"

"YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER?" Lissa yelled, her head swiveling around the courtyard all of a sudden. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"Actually, she's not here…she got married to a Nohrian Prince and decided to stay there, instead of coming here."

"And she's already married? I think I'm going to faint…" Lissa panted, feeling so overwhelmed.

Morgan turned to her brother. "Already married? Just how long have you been gone for? Oh! Or did she come back in time to save you from something? That seems real popular with kids these days!"

Owain laughed. "It's…hard to explain. I'll get into it sometime." He answered, before turning to his father, who had yet to say a word, simply staring intently at Elise, or more specifically, her hair. The Princess gulped loudly, starting to panic, as she was unsure of what was going on.

"Daddy?" Morgan asked curiously, turning to the man. "Is something wrong?"

Nathan shook his head, locking eyes with Elise and giving her a calming smile before finally speaking up.

"Your hair…it looks like a bunch of cinnamon rolls," He remarked with a bit of a laugh. After seeing Elise's stunned expression at his odd remark, he quickly added, "Er, I'm not saying it looks bad or anything like that, I just think it looks funny! Er, not funny in a bad way, but uh…"

Elise giggled at the tactician, which put him at ease. "We had many maids back at my home in Castle Krakenburg, and they always worked on my hair for me," She explained with a smile.

"It looks so…fluffy! Like you could squeeze it and poof! It would pop right back to normal!" Nathan gushed, getting a laugh out of the gathered family.

"Huh, I didn't know you were so into fancy hairstyles," Lissa jabbed with a grin.

"I dunno, it just looks cool, I guess. Don't judge me!" Nathan retorted with a laugh.

Elise smiled at her parents-in-law. For some sort of old war hero, Nathan seemed like he was a very happy person. He also seemed to have a very…bubbly personality.

"Alright, I'm done marveling at your hair," The brown-haired tactician declared. "I'm Nathan. Thanks for marrying my son."

The Princess giggled, already starting to feel at home around her goofy new family. Nathan then turned to Owain, handing the man the blue and black blade he was holding, still in it's hilt.

"Here ya go, big guy. Unused, but kept in pristine condition." He declared. "Well, except for that one time when Lissa had a bunch of mud stuck on the bottom of her boots. Oh, and when I needed something to chop up a cucumber with. There was also the time when Morgan and had a contest to see who could cut through more stacks of paper with it…"

"I think he gets the idea, father." Morgan told the man. "Anyways, why don't we all head inside? I'm sure you're all tired from your journey back home."

The group made their way into the great hall, and once the rest of the shepherds at the castle assembled, Owain and the others told them about their journeys in the kingdoms of Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla. From what they heard, the group had been through quite the expansive journey.

"You must all be tired, and I think we all are as well," Chrom mused. "Let's all get some sleep, and we'll talk more tomorrow, all right? I'm interested to learn more about Hoshido and Nohr."

As the group wandered off to their rooms, Owain turned to his father before leaving.

"…Where exactly am I supposed to go?"

Nathan grinned at the man. "Your room, of course. We didn't change a thing. You guys had good timing too, with Libra taking all the children from our timeline on a vacation to Mount Prism…"

While Elise and Owain made their way up the stairs to the myrmidon's bedroom, Owain took the time to explain all about his family. He had told Elise about them many times before, but it was much different now that the Princess had actually met them.

"They all seem so nice, and cheerful!" Elise told her husband. "I'll be honest, I can't imagine at all what they'd be like on the battlefield! They just seem way too nice to fight anyone!"

Owain laughed. "Oh, don't worry, they certainly change a lot in combat…" He replied with a slight grin. "But it was nice to see them all happy. Like everyone, they've all seen their fair share of bad times. A bit of peace in Ylisse is a much-needed respite, for everyone."

"Well, anyways, I think they're all awesome! I just…I just wish they could meet Ophelia…I'm sure she'd get along with them great as well…"

Owain nodded with a glum look on his face. It felt horrible for him to think about Ophelia never getting to see them again, or to never get to meet her grandparents.

"Maybe…maybe someday, we can bring her here. Who knows what the future holds?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Elise awoke much earlier than her husband the next morning, mostly due to excitement from their new home. As she looked around the room, she nearly screamed after she noticed a blue-armoured figure smiling down at her, standing next to the bed.

"Ah, good morning, Milady!" Frederick whispered, not wanting to wake the sleeping Owain. "In all the hubbub of last night, I forgot to inspect your belongings for tampering or foul play. Do you mind?"

"You…have to go through my clothes?" Elise stammered back. "I'd…rather you didn't…"

The Great Knight chuckled softly. "Oh, not your clothes, Milady. They are none of my concern. Besides, I am sure young master Owain has already inspected your clothing for tampering and the like…"

Elise managed a small smile, though clearly still taken aback by Frederick's sudden appearance in their room. Clearly the man wasn't the greatest when it came to personal boundaries.

"Well, what do you need to go through then?"

"Just any sorts of weaponry you may have." The man explained. "Tomes, Staves…anything of the like."

The blonde princess let out a sigh of relief. "…Sure, Mr.…Frederick, go ahead. My stuff is in the corner there."

"Many thanks for your cooperation, Milady!" The Great Knight cheerfully replied, walking over to Elise's stack of tomes, with her various healing staves next to them. "Oh, and do tell your husband he needs to work on his skills if he hopes to fool me into thinking he is still asleep…"

Elise turned to the man, whose eyes suddenly shot open as he let out a loud groan.

"Curses! I thought I had fooled you, Frederick the Wary!"

The man let out a quiet laugh while flipping through the pages of one of Elise's tomes. "You forget, I have spent years observing your mother faking to be asleep. You have much to learn if you wish to excel in that area, like her."

Elise giggled at the exchange between the two. She was going to like living here.

-IN NOHR-

Corrin let out a frustrated sigh while flipping through an old book. Though things had been relatively uneventful, there was a much different than usual reason for his frustrations.

While she would not openly admit it, the man could tell how crushed his wife, Ophelia, was at her parents' departure. Even though they all knew it was coming, and the young dark mage had made up her mind to stay by her husband's side in Nohr long ago, Ophelia had not been her usual bubbly self ever since that day. Corrin had rarely seen her smile since then, and even noticed her crying alone one day in their room. As Ophelia's closest confidant and, of course, as her husband, he felt obligated to do something, anything, to cheer her up, but nothing came to mind. Not even himself or Kana appeared to be able to sway her from her depressed mood. For now, it seemed as though he would just have to be patient with her, and wait for a return to the Dark Mage's usual bubbly self.

However, Corrin knew he would much rather take matters into his own hands if it were possible, and there were other options that had come to mind. The Nohrian prince had been researching about the Dragon's Gate, a mystical portal in the mountains between Hoshido and Nohr. If what he had found about it were true, it was an 'outrealm gate', a portal which could allow them to travel between realms and timelines, giving them a way for Ophelia to at least see her parents once more. If they could use it, it could even be possible for them to actively travel back and forth between worlds.

Corrin smiled to himself. There was no doubt his plan would make Ophelia happy, and there was nothing in the world he wanted more than that.

Before he would reveal this to his wife, however, he would need to run it by Xander first. Anything of that magnitude should go by the Nohrian King, after all.

It was a short walk up to the throne room, and upon entering Corrin saw his Blonde foster brother sitting at the end of the chamber. He approached him and bowed low in front of the man.

Xander smiled fondly at the man. "You know, there really is no need for you to do that, little prince. After what you have done for this country, and in my aid, you need not bow to anyone in this castle. I am as much your equal as you are mine."

Corrin smiled. "Thank you, big brother," He replied. "However, I'm not here for flattery."

The blonde prince nodded curtly. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I have a plan. To cheer up Ophelia."

Xander raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "I'm not sure how that would require help from me," He confessed.

"Well, I'm not looking for your help, only your permission," Corrin told the man. "I'm planning on taking Ophelia on a trip through the Outrealms, to Ylisse. I think I've figured out a way to get us to the time period her parents went back to-"

"No," Xander snapped suddenly, cutting Corrin off. "Absolutely not. I'm sorry Corrin, but that is out of the question."

"But-"

"Corrin," Xander sternly replied, glaring slightly at the man, "Do you realize the implications this could have? Traveling through the outrealms is not something one can simply toy with. You stand to tempt fate, and possibly push it into a different direction. If you travel ahead or backwards on the timeline, there's no telling what it could do."

Corrin paused for a moment, before letting out a defeated sigh. "You're right, big brother." He glumly replied.

Xander nodded solemnly, still giving Corrin a look of slight concern. "If there is anything else I can do to aid your situation, please, send word. But this…I cannot allow."

After a few days passed, Corrin was still no closer to a cure for Ophelia's woes. He finally decided that he had no other option, and would have to go with his original plan. While he would normally always heed Xander's words, this was a much different situation. Even if he was going against the orders of his king, he was doing what he believed to be right. He had to do what he thought was right for his family.

It was late in the night when he told Ophelia of his plan, bringing Kana with them as well. The Dark Mage was ecstatic at the thought of seeing her parents once more, and was quickly on board with the idea. The three snuck out of the palace late in the night, and had nearly made it out before hearing a voice chuckling from the shadows behind them.

"Oh naïve little Corrin, so quick to disobey…you naughty boy."

Corrin, Ophelia, and Kana spun around, with Corrin even reaching for his Yato blade, before seeing Niles slunk out of the shadows with a mischievous grin on his face.

"I come out here for guard duty, and what do I see? A little family running off into the night…something tells me that you three shouldn't be out here."

Corrin grumbled to himself slightly, quickly racking his brain for a way to slip out of the castle.

"Well, you aren't wrong that we shouldn't be out here…but perhaps we can sort this out some other way?"

"Hang on – shouldn't be out here?" Ophelia piped up, turning to her husband with a stern look. "Corrin, what's going on? I don't want to do anything we shouldn't be up to…"

"Now hold on, hold on…" Niles interjected, fiddling with one of his arrows as he did, spinning it in his hand. "I know I can't stop you, little Corn man. I'm not match for you and your merry band here if we came to blows. And, well… I'm certainly no snitch either. I'll tell you what. Perhaps I'm up for a little rule-breaking myself…let me come with you. As much as it pains me to say it, I wouldn't mind seeing that delusional sorcerer Odin again."

The Prince paused for a moment, before nodding to Niles.

"If you'd like to join us, I won't stop you. But are you sure Lord Leo will be fine without either of his retainers?"

The silver-haired archer scoffed. "Leo is a big boy," He replied with a chuckle, "…And besides, we're simply heading for a little visit, are we not? We're not going to be gone too long…"

Corrin nodded slightly in agreement. He then turned to Ophelia, who wore a slightly upset scowl on her face, seemingly caught off guard by the news that their actions weren't necessarily…above board.

"I'm sorry…but I couldn't bear to see you unhappy," The prince confessed. "And besides, as Niles said – just a quick visit, to lift your spirits. It can't hurt, can it? Just one day?"

There was a slight pause before Ophelia smiled at her husband, taking his hand. "At the right times, you know just what to say, don't you? Perhaps you are more gifted with the mystic arts than I've been lead to believe…"

Corrin chuckled at the remark, and the group, now with Niles in tow, made their way out of Castle Krakenburg and off into the land beyond.

It wasn't too long of a trek for the group to arrive at the Dragon's gate. A massive blue portal swirled within, looking both ominous and inviting.

"Well, here we go…" Corrin muttered, turning to the others. "Ready to do this?"

Ophelia nodded eagerly. "Destiny has placed us here, and shall guide us to the other chosen ones, who carry the sacred brand!"

With that, the foursome stepped within the portal as it sucked them inside. Upon entering, they noticed countless other open portals inside, all seemingly connected to other realms. Upon a hard glance, one could peer inside and see the other realms on the other side of each one.

"Well now… how do we know which one of these blue boys is the one we want?" Niles mused, looking around at the countless entrances to other worlds.

Corrin rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, we're heading forwards in time, right? Since that's where Elise and the others are. So if we head…this way?"

As the rest of the group turned to follow the white-haired prince, they failed to notice a mysterious figure watching them from the shadows. A sinister grin formed on the man's face. He had just finished with Archanea, and now yet another outrealm would be opened? It was simply too good to be true. As the man softly slipped back in the shadows, drifting off to follow Corrin and the others, he knew it was only a matter of time before all his goals were accomplished.

Another realm was opening, awaiting his rule. And if he was correct, this was just the one he was looking for.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Back at the Castle, the transition from Nohr to Ylisse was going much smoother than originally expected for both Elise and Owain. For the latter, it was more of a homecoming, and it did not take long to get back into the swing of things. But for Elise, while the new home presented many new challenges, she did find it to be a very pleasant place. There always seemed to be something going on, even if it was something strange – like the countless games the group seemed to play – but today, it was something normal, and something she had been oddly looking forward to – a group sparring practice.

While she knew the others still trained regularly, they usually went about their own business in that regard. Some, like Frederick, would be up at the crack of dawn, with others, such as Lissa, would slink in later in the morning to cast a few spells at the training dummies. Regardless, it would sometimes be in small groups, but never anything this large.

By her count, the Nohrian princess estimated there were around twenty or thirty of them wandering throughout the castle's large training grounds. The sun was just beginning to rise over the castle walls, lighting up the open area. Everyone was slowly beginning to file in, and were busy testing their weapons, giving a few practice swings or carefully inspecting their trusted tools for bumps or scratches.

"Ah, my sword hand has yearned for this day! Such fabled heroes gathered here…all looking to test their mettle against mine! What fated clashes of iron wills will take place here today? Oh, the excitement!"

Elise giggled at Owain's dramatic monologue. She always loved her husband's emphatic attitude towards life.

"Hm…I suppose I should inspect Missiletainn before doing anything else…" The tall eccentric man muttered to himself, carefully removing his blade from it's hilt and eyeing up the glare it gave off in the sunlight. "I'll be here if you need me, darling. Perhaps we can spar, later? Last I remember, Lass Elise of darkest darkness was deeply enthralled in combat with the shadowed hero, Owain Dark…"

Elise nodded slightly to her husband, giving him a smile. "Yup! And I intend to win this time! Clutch your sword tightly, hero who fights in the shadows! Lass Elise of darkest darkness…will have her revenge!"

The in-role response was good enough to get not only a powerful laugh out of Owain, but a genuine smile as well. The two really were meant for each other.

"Anyways, why don't you take a look around at the others? You were wondering what my family was like in combat…well, this isn't quite the real thing, but it's as close as you can get without being in any real danger, I suppose."

"Yeah…I think I'll wander over and take a look," Elise replied, her eyes having spotted Nathan stretching with Chrom and Lucina near a stack of wooden crates. That was the other thing that had her looking forward to this occasion – she had heard all the stories of just how strong Nathan and 'Uncle Chrom' were, and all about the rest of the shepherds as well, so this was a good chance to see it head on. Owain had insisted that they probably could even have given Xander and Ryoma a run for their money – which was very high praise.

As she wandered towards the gathered group, she began to be able to overhear their morning conversation as they stretched their muscles to prepare for combat.

"…I still think the dash is key," Nathan was insisting. "If you get a good upswing with a long dash, you could really launch someone with your forearm strength. I mean, gods, have you seen how far Freddy launches people with his axe when he's on his horse? Even a tenth of that would be more than enough, if you want me to try and get a follow-up."

Chrom nodded in reply as he gave Falchion a few practice swings. "But I don't think it's possible for you to get back fast enough for a follow up…it's not like you can teleport or something. But regardless, what do you think, Lucina?"

The blue-haired Princess nodded slightly. "I think the dash would work…I'm just not so sure about your foot speed, father," She admitted with a sheepish grin.

Nathan laughed. "You should practice with your daughter, she's got speed to burn!" He remarked. "Or maybe we can get you a horse…"

"I think I'll pass on that," Chrom replied. "I leave the animal care to Sumia and Frederick…speaking of that man, where is he? I thought I would spot him adjusting the training dummies or something…"

Nathan motioned across the courtyard to the great knight, barking orders at a very unenthused Lissa while she rushed around the gathered training obstacles.

"Liss made the mistake of sleeping in rather than attending the last edition of 'Frederick's fanatical fitness Fridays'," He explained with a slight grin. "I tried to get her up, but her response was something along the lines of 'what's the worst Freddy can do?' I guess she forgot…"

Chrom laughed slightly. "Of all the doting tasks he takes up, keeping us in shape is certainly the least harmless of all of them," He noted aloud.

Nathan nodded in agreement, before noticing Elise watching them intently from close by, presumably looking for a good moment to walk over. He smiled at his daughter-in-law, motioning to her to join them.

"Morning, Elise – have a good sleep?"

The princess nodded cheerfully, squeaking out a sprightly "Yep!"

"Well, I'm glad someone did," Chrom groaned, "I was up until the late hours of the night, because a 'certain someone' realized he needed both of our signatures on his forms…"

"It was a perfectly reasonable time once we finished, and you were the one who insisted we grab a midnight snack in the kitchen – so don't sit here blaming me for your lack of sleep!" Nathan snapped back, and the two entered their own debate, leaving Lucina and Elise looking on with amused grins.

"They…er… well, let's just say this happens quite a bit." Lucina explained with a deflated sigh.

"Really? Owain said Nathan and Chrom were best friends!"

The Ylissean princess laughed slightly, the smile staying on her face. "Oh, they are. I think Lissa put it best when she said they were 'like an old married couple'. They fight, but never with any sort of animosity. Just wait until you see them fighting together – its two halves of the same whole, with how in sync they get."

Nathan and Chrom seemed to have overheard the compliment, and turned their attention back to Lucina and Elise.

"That's awfully flattering, my princess," Chrom chuckled, "But Nathan and I are starting to get a little old-"

"We're still in our twenties, but sure, Chrom, old."

The Exalt ignored Nathan's comment and continued. "- I don't think it'll be long before you and Owain have surpassed us."

Nathan nodded in agreement, before his line of sight shifted towards slightly past Elise.

"Speaking of Owain, looks like he's headed this way… and we should probably get started on training. I think we've stretched for long enough."

Chrom nodded, and his eyes shifted to the line of training dummies nearby in the courtyard. Unlike the others that were lying about, these ones were covered in cuts and bruises, and often missing chunks entirely. Elise thought some of them looked like they had been rammed through a wall or two, with how badly damaged they were…

As seamlessly as though the two had hardly missed a beat, Chrom dashed forward, and slashed his blade upwards through one of the dummies. The resulting damage cut the wood and straw figure in two, and sent the pieces hurtling into the sky. With a snap of his fingers and a flick of the red tome he now held in his hand, Nathan threw up two balls of flame into the air, each one intercepting the pieces of the dummies, and burning them to ash.

The two continued this process, with neither missing a single dummy along the way. Elise marveled at how in sync they were, with Nathan even on occasion launching his fireballs first so Chrom could send the dummies right into them.

"Last one!" Chrom called, and Nathan quickly switched tomes, going from the red one he had held to a yellow one with what appeared to be an arrow on the cover. Chrom smacked the dummy into the air, this one staying in one piece, and Nathan spun around on the spot, readying his hand as lightning seemed to dance around his fingers.

"Thoron!"

With a yell and an outstretched arm, a concentrated blast of bright yellow energy burst forth, completely consuming the dummy in it's wake and flying off into the skies above.

Then, as though nothing had happened, Nathan turned to Chrom with a slightly unpleased look on his face.

"Not quite fast enough?"

Chrom nodded. "I thought so too. Maybe if I…"

As the two flowed their conversation into yet another discussion of their battle tactics, Owain put a hand on his wife's shoulder, snapping her away from marveling at the two warriors.

"I think it'll be quite some time before anyone catches up to their chemistry," He remarked with a slight smile. "Anyways, let's practice with a few tomes to warm up – I need to keep my fell hand ready for action…"

Elise giggled, pulling a tome from her pack. "Now, that's more my speed of training…"

* * *

 **Thank you to the people who have reviewed this story so far. Asher919 that is big praise, and I really do appreciate it. As for the guest review left by Andromeda, that's a very worthwhile idea that I am considering a variation on in the middle act of this story - when I reviewed the original draft, I thought it was by far the weakest part, and the part I am having to change the most.**

 **Thanks to everyone for the continued support, I've already finished and edited the next chapter so expect it sometime tomorrow :)**

 **-Nate**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Following the morning training session, the gathered group all went their separate ways, with their own tasks to do, ranging from signing forms to chores around the castle. However, after just a few hours, they had met up again, for a very special occasion.

The shepherds had hidden themselves about the throne room of the castle, while Chrom went to find Frederick. As it so happened, it was the Great Knight's birthday. Nathan had dispatched the Great Knight to go clean the stables, which he had been more than willing to do. Anything that Chrom or Nathan decreed, the man would always do with a willing attitude.

Regardless, it had given the group an excellent chance to set themselves up to give their friend a nice surprise.

"Er, Kellam, how about you just stand in the middle of the room there?" Nathan joked to the man. "I think if you actually hid, we'd never find you again…"

The group laughed as Kellam sheepishly scratched his head. "Funny thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if you're right…"

"Hey! He's coming! Places, everyone!" Lissa called, watching from the peephole on the throne room door.

The group scrambled to hide as they could hear the great knight's loud footsteps heading towards the room. As he pushed the doors open wide, his booming voice could be heard.

"Interesting that you would mention that, Milord…" Frederick told Chrom, who looked very uninterested in what the man was speaking on. "…I actually plan on-"

The great knight suddenly went silent, his keen eyes scanning the room as he stepped slightly in front of Chrom, drawing his silver lance.

"…Frederick? Is something wrong?" Chrom asked, unsure if they had been found out.

"We're not alone…I'll-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREDERICK!"

The great knight jumped in surprise, swiveling his lance around as the numerous shepherds jumped out from hiding all about the room. He let out a sigh of relief after realizing what was going on, and chuckled at the others, smiling brightly.

"I am…beyond honoured, that you would all remember my birthday!" He told them, before turning to Chrom. "You were involved in this too, I assume, Milord?"

The blue-haired Lord nodded sheepishly. "Well, of course. I wouldn't let such a day go by without letting you feel appreciated."

Frederick's eyes appeared to glisten at Chrom's comment. "It brings such joy to my heart to hear you say that, Milord!" The man declared. "I am truly honoured to be in the service of such a wise and noble Exalt!"

Chrom laughed. "Thank you, Frederick. Anyways, Nathan, you wanna take things from here?"

The tactician nodded, walking up to Frederick with a small box in hand. "So, we all pitched in and got you a little something," He explained, handing the present to the Great knight. "It isn't much, but the priest who sold it to us seemed to insist it was a holy artifact…Lissa and I just thought it looked cool."

The man slowly opened the box, and his eyes widened as he saw what was inside. It was a silver-chained necklace, with a small crest on the end, bearing the navy-blue brand of the Exalt.

"We figured you'd enjoy some unofficial proof of your belonging to our family…" Chrom explained with a smirk on his face. "I can't imagine this castle without you."

The man failed to respond, simply looking down at the necklace in awe. Nathan was worried Frederick didn't like his gift, before seeing the tears of joy rolling down the man's face.

"M-milords…I…" He managed to sputter, before breaking down and crying as he clutched the silver necklace.

"Aw, group hug time, everyone!" Lissa declared, jumping on Frederick's back. Nathan and the rest of the others followed suit, nearly knocking over the great knight as they all clumped together in a massive pile around the man.

As the group celebrated late into the night, Corrin, Niles, Kana and Ophelia were just stepping out of the outrealm gate, having finally found the correct portal to Ylisse. However, they were completely lost as to where in the country they were, and thus stopped in a nearby village to try and get some directions.

Within the quaint hamlet, Corrin spotted a well-built older farm boy who seemed to have some sort of seniority over the others. Which was weirder still, as it appeared as though the man was wearing some sort of a golden pot on his head, using it like a helmet.

"Well howdy there, strangers!" The man called, seeing the group approaching. Judging from the clothes they wore, he was certain they weren't from around the area. "Y'all look a bit lost! Somewhere I can help ya get to?"

"We're looking for Castle Ylisstol," Corrin explained. "Do you know how we can get there…sir?"

The grey-haired man chuckled slightly, nodding his head. "If you're lookin' for Ylisstol, ya seem teh have gotten awfully lost…" He mused. "Yer gonna need to head up south, and fer a pretty long ways. Normally it'd be a few days travel, but…"

The young man leaned in close to Corrin, whispering to him so that no one else could hear.

"Ya didn't hear it from me, but there's a mighty fine young mage livin' over yonder who may be able to teleport you right to tha front gates of the old castle. Don't tell him I sent ya though, or he might get mad at me!"

Corrin nodded at the man. "Thank you very much…sir…actually, I don't think I got your name." He reached out a hand, offering a handshake. "Mine's Corrin."

The pot-wearing man firmly grasped the stretched out palm, shaking it. "I'm Donnel. But you can call me Donny." He told him. "Anyways, safe travels to y'all! Hope ya make it to the ol' castle!"

Corrin and the others waved their goodbyes to the man, as they set off to find the mage Donnel had spoke of. Luckily for them, it would not take long.

There was a small house on the edge of the village, which appeared to be the one they had been directed towards. Upon stepping inside, the group noticed countless bubbling cauldrons and filled bookshelves all around the small building. For Corrin, it was all quite foreign, but Ophelia enjoyed the sight of something that reminded her of her passions.

"You know, trespassing is highly illegal…" A voice muttered sternly from nearby, stepping out from behind a nearby shelf, tome in hand. "State your business. Quickly."

Corrin stepped forward, in front of the others. "We mean you no harm, good sir." He retorted calmly. "We are only here because we seek passage to castle Ylisstol, and were told you could provide it."

The mage rolled his eyes, groaning slightly. "Donnel sent you, didn't he?" He surmised, with a heavy twinge of annoyance in his voice. "Fine. I can get you there. And when I'm done, I'm going to have a chat with that pot-wearing heathen…"

Corrin nodded gratefully to the man. "Thank you, sir. Your kindness is greatly appreciated."

Without a response, the man turned around, grabbing a few ingredients from his shelf and tossing them into a nearby cauldron. He turned to a nearby bookshelf, and after scanning it for a few moments; he pulled off a light-blue tome bearing a mark that Ophelia instantly recognized as the one on her skin.

"Ah, that mark! Are you a chosen one as well?" She prodded eagerly.

The man scoffed. "A chosen one? You don't happen to be related to Owain, do you?"

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "Owain? Who is that?"'

"Never mind. Forget I asked. Now then, do you want me to get you all to castle Ylisstol, or what?"

"Oh, yes please Mr. Laurent, as soon as possible!" Kana piped up, much to the surprise of the others. Laurent glared at the small girl.

"How do you know my name?" He snapped suddenly.

"Er, it was on one of y-your cauldrons Mr. Laurent!" Kana explained, slightly frightened by Laurent's calm rage. "I'm sorry if you don't like to be called that, v-very very sorry! Just transport us to Ylisstol, please?"

The man's harsh glare softened, as he held up his hand, light appearing to pour from it. There was a sudden flash as Corrin and the others vanished into thin air.

After they did, running in behind them was a bloodied, blue-haired individual, with a silver gleaming sword strapped to his belt.

"Th…they…you!" He wheezed, nearly collapsing. "Wh…where did those people go? Please, you have to…tell me!"

Laurent rushed over to the man, trying to tend to some of his wounds. However, his hand was slapped away as he tried to do so.

"No…time for that!" The man managed to cough weakly. "I…need to get to where those fools went!"

Laurent raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?" He asked skeptically.

"Please…" The man coughed. "My…my name is Marth…and they…everyone here…is in grave danger!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Corrin and the others manifested in front of the main entrance of Castle Ylisstol, just as the sun was setting in the distance. As they approached the front entrance, the two Ylissean soldiers standing guard cut them off.

"Let them through, guys…although I'm not sure how exactly they got here," A voice declared from nearby. The group turned to see Severa walking up to them from within the castle walls, a skeptical look on her face.

"Thanks, Selena," Corrin told her with a slight smile, which was only greeted with a harsh glare from the woman.

"How are you guys here?" She asked. "Or are my eyes just playing tricks on me…"

"Nope, we're pretty real!" Kana told her with a big smile. "Papa found a way to get here through the big blue gate thingies!"

Severa paused for a moment, before her eyes widened. "You came here…through the outrealms?"

Corrin nodded with a smug smile. "Pretty cool, huh?"

The mercenary scratched her black hair. "Dangerous is actually the first word that comes to mind…" She mused. "Anyways, head inside and go talk to Nathan or Chrom. They'll probably know more, being the big shots around here."

As Corrin, Niles, Kana and Ophelia made their way inside the castle, Severa turned to what appeared to be an empty space of air next to her.

"What do you make of this, daddy?"

Kellam seemed to manifest out of the blue, a concerned look on his face. "Nothing good, Severa," He told her. "Nothing good…"

As Corrin entered the massive Ylissean castle, the first thing he noticed was the gigantic gold statue of two men standing side by side, who he assumed were the 'Nathan and Chrom' Selena had been talking about.

"My my…seems a bit…much?" Niles chided quietly to Corrin, who nodded in agreement.

"You'd think they have more to worry about than erecting monuments in their own honour…"

Within the main hall of the castle, Nathan looked slightly towards the door. He was no psychic, but he was beginning to feel…uneasy, for some reason. It was a feeling he hadn't had in a long, long time, and not one he ever wanted to have again.

"You in there, dear?"

Nathan was snapped from his thoughts by Lissa's voice, turning to see his wife giving him a concerned look.

"Is something wrong?" She prodded. Nathan shook his head, dismissing the thought for the time being.

"Nothing…not yet." He answered. "But I can't shake the feeling…something's coming. Something bad."

He felt a painful burning sensation in his hand and winced slightly. He looked down at the back of his left hand, and stared at the area where the mark of Grima had once been. He could've sworn it was a trick of the eyes, but it felt like the mark had appeared once again for a brief moment.

As Corrin and his group reached the doors of the main hall, Ophelia and Kana rushed ahead of the two men, making their way quickly towards the entrance. There was plenty of noise and commotion coming from within, so it appeared to be where the others would be.

Upon bursting through the doors, there was a sudden silence from the shepherds gathered within, completely caught off guard by whatever was going on.

Ophelia quickly rushed over to Owain and Elise, who were sitting together, nearly tackling her father to the ground in a hug. Kana looked around the room excitedly, trying to take in her new surroundings and all the new faces she was just meeting. Nathan gave Chrom a look of concern as he spotted Niles and Corrin wandering in behind Kana.

"H-how did you get here, Ophelia?" Owain asked his daughter, happy to see her again but also confused as to what was going on.

"C…Corrin got us here…" She managed to explain while tightening her grip around her father. "He…we…found a way."

"Hold on a moment," Chrom spoke up, walking over to Corrin. "I remember you! We met, a long, long time ago, just before we found Nathan in that field!"

The Nohrian Prince smiled. "You're right on that, Chrom." He replied, as the memories of his encounter with Frederick, Chrom, and Lissa came flooding back. It had felt like decades since then, even though it was only a matter of a few years.

"Hold, now," Frederick called, stepping in front of Chrom. "It has been ages since our encounter with you and your band. And yet, you look as though you have hardly aged at all. What is the meaning of this sorcery?"

"Skin cream?" Morgan joked from her seat nearby, before receiving a harsh glare from Frederick. An awkward tension was beginning to build, as most of the shepherds could sense that something was off.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Nathan declared, standing up from his chair and turning to Chrom. "How come you, or Lissa, or Frederick, never told me that you met some guy from another world just minutes before you met me! Isn't that kind of important information?"

"To be honest, it was never relevant, until now," Chrom answered. "I completely forgot about them. We only fought alongside them for an hour or two before they disappeared once again, and your arrival swept everything else from our minds after that. I do have to apologize, however, for never mentioning them, regardless of if it was important or not."

Nathan waved a hand at the man, having calmed down slightly. "Don't worry about it. It's not really a concern, to be perfectly honest."

He then looked over at Corrin, who was still standing nearby, watching the two.

"Now then, how did you get here?"

"Well, we managed to navigate our way through the outrealms, and-"

"THE OUTREALMS? ARE YOU INSANE?" Nathan's voice reached a sudden yell of anger. "You're meddling with space and time itself! Who do you think you are, some kind of god?"

"Well, you seem to believe yourself to be one with the fancy gold statue you have erected in the courtyard, so you tell me!"

"Oh, that's one hell of a first impression you've got going here-"

The tactician was cut off as Marth stumbled into the hall, covered in deep wounds and cuts. He collapsed to the floor upon entering, and Lissa and Elise rushed to aid him.

"What in the seven hells…that's…"

Chrom's eyes widened, recognizing the man as well. "That's Marth! The Hero King!"

Nathan rushed over to the man, feeling so lost as to what was going on.

"Okay, now something is definitely off. How in blazes are you here?" He asked frantically.

Marth let out a weak groan, looking up at Nathan. "You…you all…need to leave." He managed to wheeze.

"He's coming. They're all coming."

At the gate of the castle, Kellam and Severa watched as a tall, hooded figure was walking up to the entrance.

"This can't be good. Looks like some hooligan." Kellam mused. He motioned to the other two guards of the gate. "I'll handle this."

The heavily armoured general lumbered towards the hooded figure, stopping just a few paces in front of him.

"State your business, traveler, and lower the hood as well. I'm afraid we can't allow strangers to simply barge in here."

As the man lowered his hood, Kellam and Severa let out a gasp of surprise, recognizing the man. He was a tall sorcerer with jet-black hair and dark, sickly skin – but this time, something was different. A mysterious, sickly purple aura was seeping off his body, creating a miasma that made Kellam and Severa feel as though the very air around them was getting harder and harder to breathe. He let out an evil cackle that sent chills up their spines, a sinister grin forming as he stared down the two.

"Oh, you naïve fools," Validar sneered, "Soon you will realize…you're in no position to be making demands."

* * *

 **I suppose here is where things start to pick up. I know it's a bit of a cop out, going for the old 'bringing back old villains' cliche, but I honestly didn't feel comfortable trying to add a new character to the story. I simply couldn't come up with a new character who would make things interesting, and plus, as is indicated, there's a lot more than just Validar on the way.**

 **I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, I've really enjoyed going through it again to improve it. Thanks for reading :)**

 **-Nate**


	8. Chapter 8

**Going for the rare surprise double upload in one night. I have a couple chapters ready to go so I figured I should start putting them out. Hope you all enjoy! Thanks again to Asher919 for the review, the kind words are always much appreciated :)**

* * *

Chapter 8

Severa drew her steel blade, jumping up next to her father. Kellam turned to the other two Ylissean guards standing nearby.

"GET INSIDE. NOW." He barked loudly, and the two men scrambled within the gates. He then turned to Severa.

"You don't have to see this. Things are about to get messy," The general told his daughter.

Severa scoffed. "I've killed as many people as you, old man. Probably even more."

"That's not what I'm concerned with." The man replied harshly. "Go find your mother, and get her out of here."

"But-"

"NOW, SEVERA!" The man roared. The longhaired mercenary rushed inside, before turning back to her father.

"You'll be all right, daddy, won't you?" She pleaded with the man, stopping for a brief moment. Kellam turned his head slightly, smiling warmly at his daughter.

"I'll be fine. After all, he probably can't see me anyways…" The man joked. Severa smiled back at her father giving him a wink before scrambling inside of the castle.

Once she was out of the way, Kellam turned back to Validar, who was giving him a mocking sneer.

"Ah, the worthless general. No one can even be bothered to make note of your presence, and yet…why do you stay here? You seem ever so eager to seal your fate to death…" The man hissed, raising his hand and pulling a dark magic tome from his robes.

Kellam gave a warm smile to the man as he readied his lance. "Don't you worry, I don't plan on dying here," The man explained, "But at the very least, I can buy my friends some time."

Beads of sweat were starting to drip from Kellam's forehead, and he was thankful that his thick armour covered it up nicely. From the moment the man he faced had lowered his hood, he knew in his heart that there wasn't a chance he could make it out alive. This was far too powerful of an opponent for him, or anyone else present at the time, to handle. However, he had to get his daughter out of there somehow. Her life was far more important than his.

"If you think I'm a dead man, I'm sure you won't mind explaining how you're here…" The general declared.

"Yes…I suppose I could. Anything to fulfill a dead man's last request," The sorcerer replied mockingly. "From what it seems, you have already met me. Do pray tell, is the Validar of this world already dead?"

Kellam nodded smugly. "Dead and buried. Just like you'll be soon enough."

This got a laugh out of Validar. "Oh, aren't you just adorable!" He sneered. "I'm going to enjoy killing you!"

"Sure you will. If I let you." Kellam snapped back. "Anyways, keep going. How are you here? Did you come back in time, or something? Because we've already seen that before."

The black-robed sorcerer laughed. "No, not from the future." He replied. "Let's just say…I'm from a different past. One where…things changed."

"And that means?"

Validar scoffed, a ball of purple flames forming in his hand. "Nothing I need to tell you. I've said enough. Why explain myself to a dead man walking?"

Kellam bobbed his head quickly, slamming down the silver and orange helmet that was raised above his head. He spun his lance to try and connect on Validar, but the man had already unleashed a blast of his sickly black and purple flames. The general barely managed to dodge, but the flames managed to singe the side of his stomach. He grimaced in pain, but did the best to mask the damage Validar had already done.

Validar raised his hand and a black and purple sword that looked oddly familiar manifested in the hand of the man.

"You seem far more interested in close combat, so…I think I'll indulge you." He sneered, pointing the dark blade at the man, a sickly purple aura radiating off of it.

"Bring. It. On." Kellam snarled, readying his curved lance once more.

Kellam was far more of an ace with his lance than he was ever willing to let on, and Validar was one of the first to quickly find that out. His style was quite defensive, but in a fight like this, it had to be – the general could tell he was simply being toyed with.

Validar fought with a smug sneer upon his face, even going so far as to use only one hand throughout in combat, while still managing to force Kellam to block and parry every one of his blows, with no openings to be found. In his other hand, a tome slowly manifested, this one was red and covered in ancient insignia.

Kellam took a quick mental note of the tome. He figured he might not want to get hit by whatever type of magic that was.

"This is quite amusing…but I've had my fun," Validar sneered, giving off a mocking, disappointed sigh. "I suppose I can-"

The sorcerer cut himself off as he saw a white Pegasus soaring over the castle walls; with a full group of passengers being carried on it's back. In total, they were four: Cordelia, Inigo, Severa and Soleil. Cordelia's Pegasus was strong, but the added weight had slowed her down significantly, making her an easy target for Validar to pick out of the sky – something the sorcerer had duly noted.

"If I'm not mistaken, that is your family, correct?" Validar taunted, knocking Kellam back with a flick of his blade. "I suppose it's destiny that they should arrive now…just in time for you to watch them die," He sneered, raising his hand. Kellam however tackled the man with all his might, sending his blast of wicked flames flying wildly into the air, but out of the way of Cordelia and the others.

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Kellam screamed, louder than he ever had before.

Cordelia paused for a moment, tears starting to form in her eyes as she nodded to the man, with her Pegasus slowly floating up once again.

"I love you," She managed to mouth.

Kellam nodded to her, smiling one last time at his wife and daughter.

"I know."

As Cordelia and the rest of their family flew off, tears were streaming from Severa's eyes as she wailed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? WE HAVE TO GO BACK! WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM!"

As Validar slowly got up, wiping the blood from his face, he turned to Kellam with a sick smile.

"I have to thank you, for the good fight, even if it was a tad short," He mockingly sneered, raising his hand as a purple aura formed around him once more. "But this is your time. May your soul feed the life force of the fell dragon!"

Kellam took one final look at the sky. "I hope they'll remember me," He mumbled; as a blast of Validar's dark black flames consumed him, leaving no trace of the man save for his curved lance lying nearby.

Validar stretched his neck, making his way towards the castle gate. His eyes shimmered purple as he looked up at the high walls.

"Now then…" He muttered to himself with an evil grin, "Time to visit my son, I suppose."

With that, the man blew open the doors of the fortress and stepped inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

If Kellam had managed to do anything, he bought Nathan and the others plenty of time to prepare for Validar's inevitable attack. Thanks to this, Marth was able to explain what was going on to Nathan and the others. Apparently, this Validar was from a different timeline, and had managed to conquer many other worlds via the outrealms. As he did, he recruited countless others to fight at his side in the process. The result was a destructive team of nothing but the strongest villains from across time and space, a force that was seemed nearly unstoppable. The hero-king himself had just barely managed to escape into the outrealms after Validar's destruction of his home in Archanea, and had been pursuing Validar when Corrin and his group showed up. Validar had followed them from close behind to their destination, that being their kingdom of Ylisse. Marth had tried to engage him in hopes of stopping him, but was nearly killed in the process. It was only the man's quick wits that were able to get him out alive, as he managed to escape into the forests of Ylisse.

Nathan was beside himself with anger at Corrin for having endangered them all so much, but knew there was more pressing matters at hand. He had sent the Nohrian Prince and his group to take Marth down to the dungeons, with Panne and Yarne guiding their way. There was a secret tunnel out of the castle down there, which could be necessary if they needed a quick exit.

Chrom and Nathan had made their way to the throne room, along with the remaining shepherds. The other Ylissean soldiers, and all those working within the castle, had already been evacuated. They suspected that Validar was looking for them, and if it was a fight he wanted, he would get one. As they stood next to each other and suited up for battle, Nathan turned to Chrom, who was putting on his bright silver armour.

"You know, we're the only two who have to be here," He muttered to the man. "I think we'd both agree that getting the rest of our friends out of here should be a top priority."

"Do you want to try to tell them to leave?" Chrom retorted while sliding his silver breastplate over his head. "Because I think we both know how that's going to end."

Nathan nodded. "I suppose you're right on that. We can't stop them from being here. But that doesn't mean it's not worth a shot to ask."

"We just need to keep them all safe. And besides, we've killed Validar once before. How hard can it be to do it again?"

The tactician sighed heavily, furrowing his brow. "I have a feeling that this is going to be nothing like last time, Chrom," He admitted. "And besides that, like Marth said, he's not our only problem – there's enemies from all the other outrealms, and now they're all converging here…"

The Exalt put a hand on his best friend's shoulder, trying to reassure him.

"We'll get through it together. All of us. We always do."

As Nathan fitted on the last piece of his jet-black armour, throwing his tactician's cloak over top, he gave his friend a grim look. "I just hope you're right."

Frederick approached the two from behind, and Nathan got an idea.

"Say, Frederick, can you do a favour for me?"

The man nodded slightly. "Anything, Milord. What did you have in mind?"

"I need you to get everyone else out of here. No one needs to be here except myself and Chrom."

The great knight paused for a moment, before shaking his head in defeat. "I'm afraid that is one order I cannot follow, milord," He retorted. "Everyone that is here is here by choice. It is not up to any of us to make such decisions for them."

Chrom smiled at the older man. "Sometimes I forget how smart you've gotten, Freddy," He joked, getting a small laugh of support from Nathan, before the tactician walked off to check in on the others for a moment.

Ricken was standing alone next to the throne, watching the giant looming doors anxiously. He spotted Nathan approaching from a ways away, and did his best to try and stop himself from shaking. The anxious moments before any conflict always got to him, and this one was even worse. Fighting an unknown opponent was certainly not an advantageous position, and from what Marth had told them, being afraid was the only proper emotion.

"I can relate to the nerves," Nathan muttered as he approached the mage. Ricken sighed, looking up at his friend. Both of them were still quite short, much to Ricken's chagrin, and even worse still, he had yet to surpass the also vertically challenged tactician.

"This really makes me wish we had the cabal, here and now." The young mage told his friend, who nodded in agreement. "Back then, nothing could beat us. But right now…"

"…Now it feels like our world is about to fall apart," Nathan finished. "Funny, how quick things can change? Trust me, I have the exact same feelings as you. But we're not going to just roll over and die. If we go down, we die in battle. That's probably what Lon'qu would say if he were here, the whole dying thing."

Ricken managed a small giggle. "Yeah, that sounds like him…"

The brief bright exchange between the two made Nathan smile. He had grown quite close with the mage over the years, and he was definitely someone that the tactician could frequently count on.

The veteran strategist then found his way to Owain and Elise, standing nervously in the corner of the room. Elise looked as though she was going to cry, which concerned Nathan quite a bit. They hadn't been together long, but the man had developed quite the quick bond with 'fluffs', as he sometimes called her (Due to the hair).

"F-father!" Owain called, spotting the man as he approached. "Is there something you need?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not at the moment," He answered, "Just here to check on the two of you." He turned to Elise. "You certainly don't look like you're holding up well. Someone bothering you? Does your father in law have to go beat someone up?"

Elise sputtered a bit of a giggle which turned into a sob as the tears started to roll from her face uncontrollably. She buried her face in Owain's chest as the man wrapped her in a tight embrace. Nathan put a hand on the Princess's back, and managed a small smile.

"I promise you, Elise, and I promise to everyone here. No one is dying today. I'm going to protect all of us." He told her reassuringly. Elise sniffled slightly, slowly turning her head to see Nathan.

"Y…you promise?"

"I'll do everything I can. I swear. Owain may not have told you, but his old man is pretty strong! I suppose you did see me practice with Chrom the other day, so I hope that at least gave you some reassurance of our combined strength…" The tactician joked with a reassuring smile.

Elise sniffled again; trying to stop her tears, and managed a weak smile towards the tactician.

After that, Nathan walked off to find Lissa, before running into Frederick. He smiled to himself as he noticed the great knight was already wearing the silver necklace he and the others had gotten for him. The man had it on the outside of his armour, and seemed particularly proud of it when Nathan noticed.

"It looks good on you, Frederick," Nathan confessed with a sly grin. "Really…uh…brings out your eyes? I dunno, that seems like a good compliment."

The great knight chuckled quietly. "I wear it as a badge of honour, and as an eternal promise."

"Promise of what?"

"That I will never leave any of you. I will always be here to help and assist. It is my sole duty in life."

The tactician smiled at his friend. "I don't think you ever try to, but you always know how to cheer me up," He told him.

Finally, the man spotted Lissa sitting on a chair nearby, staring down at the floor. He pulled up another chair from the expansive room, and took a seat next to her.

"You know, I'm not actively trying to kill myself this time. Shouldn't you be happy?" The tactician joked. This got a slight giggle from Lissa, who also hit the man, doing her best to try not to laugh.

"That's – not – funny!" She declared between giggles and punches, before wringing out her hand after trying to punch her husband. "Also, ow, what are you wearing?"

Nathan lifted his cloak slightly to reveal the sleek, jet black ninja armour underneath. "Dread fighter garb, remember?" He explained, "I'd been reading up on it for so long, I figured I'd get our blacksmith to make some for me. I can look just like Saber and Gray, from back in the days of the Valentian wars!"

"Yeah? I didn't read too much of that boring stuff, but I don't think their armour quite looked like that," Lissa retorted.

Nathan grinned sheepishly. "I took some…creative liberties." He shot back. "And besides, I think what matters is that it's light, and it'll keep me safe. At least I hope it will."

There was short awkward pause between the two before Lissa suddenly hugged her husband as tightly as she could. Nathan returned the warm embrace with a soft smile.

"Promise me you won't die. And don't let anyone else go dying, while you're at it!" She told him, sniffling slightly.

Nathan nodded. "I promise."

As the tactician muttered these words, a yell came from Chrom, who was waiting near the door.

"Nathan! He's here!"

The tactician got up from his seat, cracking his knuckles and pulling Mystletainn from its hilt as he walked over to Chrom. It was time, once more, to tip the scales.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As Validar slowly walked in the throne room, using his magical powers to push the doors open for himself, he sneered at Chrom and Nathan, standing together in front of the castle throne. The others stood off to the side near and around them, watching things unfold in a nervous silence.

"AH, my son," Validar mockingly called to Nathan. "What a pleasure it is to see you again."

Nathan scoffed at the man, grinning slightly. "I'd say the same, but I don't feel like lying through my teeth. How are you here? And who are you, really?"

The sorcerer chuckled. "Now for you, I suppose I should explain, shouldn't I…"

"In the world I am from, you did what I am sure you already tried here. You rebelled when it was time for you to accept your true destiny as my own flesh and blood." Validar explained. "And, as you refused to become one with Grima, I did what it appeared the me of this world could not do."

"Oh? And what's that?" Nathan asked.

"I killed you," Validar replied quaintly, with an evil smile on his face. "Your refusal to become one with Grima, and to side with these…insects…was quite disappointing, so you left me with no choice. It gave me great pain to have to commit such an act against my own son, but it was only one of many atrocities committed in the name of the gods. Your friends did there best to stop me, but they were far too weak. After all, it was only your death that I required."

"That's nice and all," Chrom told the man with a glare, "But that doesn't make you any different from the Validar we killed in this timeline. No need to worry, though, we'll make sure your death is quick and painless."

The purple-eyed sorcerer cackled, his eerie laugh echoing throughout the hall. "Please, foolish prince, let me finish my story," He told him with a mocking frown. "You'll find that I am very different from the man you killed."

Nathan felt his hand twitch slightly once more. At this point, the area where the mark of Grima had once been now felt as though it was on fire, and searing itself into his skin. It felt as though something was calling to him from afar, and it was very familiar.

"…So once I had killed Nathan, we no longer had our vessel for Grima," Validar continued. "And thus, I decided to take his place."

"But you said that was impossible!" Chrom argued. "When we fought, you said that only Nathan could accept Grima's power!"

"This is true," Validar replied. "So I took the blood from his veins, the blood of a perfect vessel, and made it one with my own. If he would not join me in life, my son would help me in death!"

"You're sick." Chrom spat. "You would kill your own son just for the power of Grima?"

The sorcerer laughed, a sinister purple aura forming around him once more. The sheer concentration of energy was so powerful that it lifted the man off the ground, and he floated menacingly over the shepherds. "Foolish boy," He snapped. "I am Grimleal! There is nothing I would not do for the Fell Dragon!"

With that, Nathan and Chrom had heard enough. Chrom drew Falchion from its hilt, as Nathan pulled off his tactician's robe, letting it fall to the floor, revealing the jet-black dread fighter garb underneath.

"If you'd be willing to die for Grima, we are more than happy to oblige." Nathan spat, a familiar purple aura forming around him once more.

Validar sneered as his black-and-purple blade materialized in a puff of purple smoke. He pointed it to Nathan while smiling mockingly.

"Come and try, fool. Come and try."

With a fearsome battle cry, Nathan and Chrom dashed at Validar, as the man tried to blast them with shots of purple flame. The battle was on.

Chrom quickly sidestepped a blast from the sorcerer, jumping into the air to try and hit the man. However, he failed to connect, with Validar easily parrying the blow. It was Nathan's try next, but it was proving quite the task to deal with the time-traveller. The two certainly agreed that the man they fought was far stronger than any they had faced before, and was nothing like the version they had fought many years ago.

However, Validar's aura would not be enough to keep him in the air forever. The man finally landed, though the aura that surrounded him refused to fade, only getting fiercer and fiercer. It felt as though the miasma could suffocate one if they stood in it for too long, let alone fought with it surrounding them. Realizing that dragging out the battle was not an option, Nathan turned to Chrom, realizing it was time to strike.

"Like we practiced, okay?" He told the man.

Chrom gave him a surprised look. "Are you certain that's wise?" He retorted.

"Do you have a better idea right now?"

The Exalt sighed, lowering his sword. "Fair enough," He conceded, before turning to look at Validar, who was watching the two intently.

With that, Nathan dashed at Validar, with Chrom circling warily around the two as they clashed. Midway through their one-on-one duel, Chrom pulled back his arm and threw Falchion with all his might, aiming for Validar. Just as the man turned to block the sword, however, Nathan jumped in the way, catching the exalted blade on his backhand. With a spin, he tried to use it to stab Validar while his purple aura swirled around him and the blade. The sorcerer managed to parry the blow just in time, sending Falchion spinning into the air. As he did, Nathan ducked down, with Chrom rushing in and using the tactician's back as a stepping-stone, flying into the air and catching his blade as he did.

"TAKE THIS!" The Exalt roared, raising his blade with two hands as he flew towards Validar. Unfortunately for Nathan and Chrom, the man appeared to have been ready for this as well. He raised his hand as quickly as possible, and sent a shower of spears of black magic towards both Chrom and Nathan, sending them flying backwards and crashing into the walls of the throne room, landing near the other shepherds.

Nathan managed to stand up, his legs shaking. He could taste the blood in his mouth, and the numerous deep wounds now on his body were certainly not helping.

"R-RUN! EVERYONE!" He commanded to them.

"B – but-"

"DID YOU HEAR ME?" He roared. "GET OUT OF HERE! HE'S TOO STRONG!"

Frederick was at least willing to listen, and began pushing the others out of the room and towards the back exit. "We have to leave, now! Make for the dungeons!" He declared, ushering the others out of the room. However, no one was willing to leave Nathan and Chrom behind.

Validar sighed mockingly, forming another jet-black spear in his hand once more. "Such foolishness. It's almost admirable…"

Chrom slowly managed to get up as well, still heavily wounded from Validar's last attack. "We won't give up!" He spat back defiantly. "Not until the last of us is dead!"

The sorcerer laughed. "Very well, then…" He muttered, stretching out his arm, "You shall be the first to go! DIE!"

As Validar released his arrow of black magic towards Chrom, the man was tackled powerfully out of the way at the last second, sending him skidding across the ground and smashing his head on the concrete floor. He could hear muffled yells and screams as his mind slowly blacked out into nothingness.

The Prince awoke from this darkness only a few seconds later. He could hear a loud ringing in his ears, and muffled noises that he couldn't quite make out. One thing he could hear for certain: Validar's chilling laughter from across the room.

He tried to look around, but his vision was extremely blurred and felt immense pain while turning his neck. He could see someone crumpled to the floor nearby, having been smashed up against the wall with a gaping wound on his or her chest.

There was a gleam at Chrom's feet, and as he looked at it, his vision began to slowly return. After seeing it, however, he wished he had gone blind instead.

It was a silver chain bearing the brand of the Exalt on the end, now spattered with blood.

* * *

 **My apologies for the slight cliffhanger. I'll be gone over the weekend, so the next chapter of this story won't go up until late Sunday most likely. Plus I need a bit of time to re-edit the next chapter, to ensure it's just as good as I need it to be. When I started this story, this was a death I had planned from the very beginning - but it was also the hardest one I've ever had to write. Killing characters is never fun, but in case you couldn't tell this is a character who is one of my favourites and sees an awful lot of time in the spotlight in my stories, making it an even harder one to part with. I just felt like Nathan, Chrom and the rest really needed a strong inciting incident to give them motivation - so here we are.**

 **On that somber note, thanks once again for reading and supporting this story. I'll keep on pumping out chapters as long as there is interest.**

 **-Nate**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"FREDERICK!" Nathan screamed, looking on in horror as he saw the man crumpled up against the wall, a gaping hole in his upper chest, the area where he had taken the entirety of Validar's blast. The tactician rushed to the side of his friend, as did the rest of the shepherds, save for Sumia, who dashed to her husband's side, helping the man up and bringing him over to them.

Nathan and Ricken helped Frederick up, although the man could barely stand, as Owain, Morgan, and Elise combined their powers to create a wall of fire between them and Validar, giving the group just enough time to scurry out of the room.

Once they were gone, another figure manifested out of the shadows. It was a tall, hulking, brute of a man. His skin was a sickly grey and he was dressed in black royal garb fit for a king. He carried a giant axe in his hand as he tentatively stared over at Validar. He was not one for taking orders, but as a leader and ruler he knew now was not the time to fight the Plegian sorcerer. That time would come later.

"Shall we follow them?"

Validar cackled and shook his head. "Oh, Let them run," He replied. "After all, what can they do but try to outrun their fate before it reaches them?"

Once they arrived in the lower tunnels, Nathan and Ricken managed to set down the great knight. Nathan tore a sleeve off his black robe, trying to use it to suppress the bleeding from the great knight by pressing it up against his chest, but to no avail. Lissa and Elise used their staffs to try and seal the wound, but it appeared the magic used made it impossible.

"Th…there's nothing we can do…" Lissa whimpered softly, pulling back her staff as the tears rolled from her face. Nathan looked on in horror at Frederick's barely breathing body. The man hacked and coughed up some blood, and managed to lift his head, locking eyes with the tactician.

"Re…remember…when we…talked alone…under that tree?" He managed to sputter. "Many moons ago…just before…you…died?"

Nathan thought back and nodded to his friend, remembering the night. "I asked you what you would do, if put in my situation, where you had to sacrifice yourself for the good of the people."

"And…what did…I say?" Frederick wheezed.

The tears began to roll from Nathan's eyes as he helplessly watched the final moments of his close friend. "Y-you…you said you would. You would die to protect those you love."

Frederick managed a weak smile, nodding to the man. The tears were starting to roll for him as well. He looked over to Chrom, who had joined Nathan, the two standing alone in front of their friend. Over the years, the group of three had been through so much together, and was nearly inseparable.

Frederick managed to hold out his hand to Nathan. As the tactician reached out to meet it, the great knight carefully placed his silver necklace into the man's outstretched hands.

"The…duty…of protecting…the house of Ylisse…it falls to you now." He coughed weakly.

"Hey, save your breath, Frederick!" Chrom sternly warned, tears falling from his eyes. "You're gonna be just fine, okay? You just need a bit of r-rest, that's all!"

The older man managed to chuckle slightly, and smiled warmly at Chrom.

"It is such an honour milord…" He muttered, "To die…in your service…"

The great knight kept his arm stretched out. "Will you two…make a promise to me?"

Nathan and Chrom put their hands on top of Frederick's, strengthening the bond.

"Of course."

"Do not…come visit me…in the afterlife…any time soon," He told them with a smile. "And tell Cherche…I love her. And Gerome… that he is a better man…than I could ever be."

As hard as they tried, the tears refused to stop flowing for both Chrom and Nathan. The two nodded to their friend, whose breathing was beginning to get more and more ragged.

The great knight looked around one last time, seeing the faces of the people he had called family for so long. He locked eyes with Lissa for a brief moment, smiling to the Princess.

"M-milady…if you are sad…I will have to…put on…a play, for you!" He joked, which made Lissa cry even more, but also got her to smile. "Or perhaps…sing you a song…"

He then locked eyes with Elise for one moment, and slightly shook his head to her. None of the others caught this nor would know what it meant, but Elise nodded to the great knight as she continued to cry.

Frederick looked up at Nathan and Chrom one last time before closing his eyes as he took in his final breaths.

"I am…so glad…to die…for those…I love."

And with that, the great knight breathed his last.

The tunnel was silent for a brief moment, as the only sound that could be heard was the mourning of the shepherds over the loss of a great warrior and friend. That silence was suddenly broken by Nathan slamming his fist into the wall, his eyes flickering with a purple flame as he did.

The tactician let out a loud, long, scream of anger. This was the final straw, as he was beginning to boil over.

His hands were shaking as he turned to Corrin, leaning up against the wall with Niles, away from the rest of the group.

"This is all…your fault…" He muttered.

Corrin warily looked over at the man, beginning to tense up. "What was that?"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Nathan screamed, drawing his blade. Chrom quickly jumped in front of Nathan, staring the man in the eyes, seeing the purple flames of hate and anger burning brightly within them.

"Hey, Nathan, Nathan!" He yelled. "This isn't the time for fighting!"

The tactician shoved Chrom out of the way as a sinister purple aura formed around him.

"Don't worry. I won't be long."

Corrin drew his Yato and stared down Nathan. While he did feel at fault, he wasn't going to simply roll over and take the blame. Not like this.

As Nathan clashed steel with Corrin, his swings were fueled by hatred and blind rage. Every attack was simply a show of brute force, trying to rip into the man's heart just as Corrin had just torn out a piece of his. While Corrin's sword skills were superior to Nathan's, it was almost as though there was another force elevating the tactician, egging him on to push his own limits.

Corrin was quite quickly put on the defensive by Nathan's suddenly aggressive fighting style, and was forced to react quickly as the man continuously smashed his blade against Corrin's Yato. 

"You – need – to – calm – down!" The Nohrian prince managed to sputter between blows, gritting his teeth, starting to feel the affects of Nathan's blows.

Finally, the tactician managed to find an opening, parrying a blow and using it to fling Corrin's sword down the hall. From there, he threw his own blade aside and proceeded to grab Corrin by the collar with one hand and repeatedly pummel the Prince in the face with his other.

The man was stopped as Chrom grabbed him from behind, doing his best to hold him back while Elise tended to Corrin's wounds. Nathan looked angrily back at Chrom, breathing heavily.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chrom berated. "You could have killed the man! I know how you feel, but that – what the hell was that?!"

"Just like he killed Frederick," Nathan spat back. "An eye for an eye sounds fair."

"STOP THIS MADNESS!" Marth suddenly yelled, instantly grabbing the attention of the entire gathered group. The young Prince turned to Nathan with a disappointed frown.

"Do you think this is anything like what your friend would have wanted?" He snapped. "You to kill a man in his honour?"

With that, the purple aura about Nathan seemed to vanish, his eyes returning to their normal colour, almost as though he was snapped from a trance. "I…"

"Yes, this man shares some blame for what has transpired," Marth continued sternly, motioning towards Corrin. "But he, and EVERYONE ELSE, do not deserve to die for such actions!"

Nathan let out a long sigh as Chrom relaxed his grip on the man, allowing the tactician to pull away. Nathan picked up his sword from the ground, and after sliding it back into its sheath, walked off in silence down the tunnel. Lissa and the others looked on as the man disappeared into the darkness of the expansive hall.

As he walked off into the shadows, Chrom turned to Marth, a look of worry upon his face.

"Well that certainly wasn't helpful. We have more than enough problems on our plate at the moment…what do you propose we do?"

The hero-king sighed. "For now? We run. We regroup, we recoup. And then…"

"…And then?"

"I…I honestly don't know."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The Shepherds all dealt with the death of their close comrade in their own ways. Some got together in groups, trying to support each other through the pain, and also figure out what they were going to do next. Others went off on their own, not wanting to have to deal with social interactions.

Upon exiting the emergency tunnels out of Ylisstol castle, the group had come out in the middle of a nearby forest, and set up a small makeshift camp, making it as subtle as possible, just in case Validar planned on heading their way. From what they had heard from Marth, he had his own legion of Risen at his command, so it was imperative that they stay hidden from sight for the time being. There would be a time for a counter-assault, but it certainly was not now.

As Lissa made her way down to the nearby pond, planning on washing off Nathan's black cloak before sewing the arm of the robe back on, she found herself crying once more. It had been near impossible to hold the tears back over the past few days, and Nathan's odd, now distant personality certainly didn't help at all. When she was sad, her husband was always there to cheer her up, but he had hardly been seen around over the past couple days. To make matters worse, the tactician and Chrom hadn't said a word to each other since Nathan's fight with Corrin in the tunnels.

Lissa pushed the uncomfortable thoughts from her head as she knelt down near the pond, dipping Nathan's cloak into the water and trying to wring out the blood. The Princess nearly jumped when she noticed the tactician standing a ways away, staring across the pond, and also at the sunset in the distance. The man was much farther lost in his thoughts than usual, not even noticing the presence of his wife nearby.

Nathan looked down at the gleaming necklace he held in his hand. It was Frederick's final gift to him, and what he had told the tactician regarding it rang through his mind.

"The…duty…of protecting…the house of Ylisse…it falls to you now."

The tactician shook his head, closing his fist on the necklace. He remembered the excitement of ordering the present for Frederick, custom forged, and how happy he was at how much Frederick enjoyed the gift. Now, the sight of it just made him feel sick.

"I'm sorry, Frederick," Nathan muttered to himself, "…But I can't accept this. I'm no protector of Ylisse. What good of a tactician am I if I can't even save my own friends? I even gave into my own rage…gods, what good of a man am I if my will is so weak?"

With that, Nathan pulled back his arm and chucked the necklace with all his might, watching it let out a small splash as it fell into the depths of the small pond.

Before the tactician went to turn around, he finally noticed Lissa watching him nearby, now starting to cry once more. He made his way over to her, taking a seat at the foot of the pond next to her.

"I…I don't know what to do anymore," He confessed. "I don't think I can shoulder the weight of our whole world…"

"Y-you don't have to," Lissa managed to sniffle, locking eyes with her husband. "We're all still here with you. You need to let me help you bear the load. I'm still here, so is Chrom, so are our kids! There's still plenty to fight for, and plenty of people on your side."

Nathan pulled the pigtailed Princess into a sudden hug, squeezing her as tightly as possible. Lissa giggled slightly before returning the embrace, equally as tight.

"You know…" Nathan muttered with a sly grin, "No one's around…and we might not have a chance like this, all alone, in quite some time…"

Lissa raised an eyebrow at her husband. "Out here? That's a new one…"

The tactician shrugged. "I'm feeling a bit impulsive right now," He admitted, before pulling Lissa into a deep kiss.

An hour or so later, the two returned to the camp, and Nathan left to find Chrom. The group would need to make some sort of move soon, as from what their scouts had told them, Validar and his group were spreading across the land.

The tactician slipped under the tent flap of Chrom's portable home, spotting the Exalt polishing Falchion on his bedroll. Sumia was lying on the bed next to him, nose buried in another book.

"We need to start making plans to move," The man muttered, not bothering to look up from his work. Sometimes, it almost scared Nathan how much the two managed to think alike.

"Come meet me in the strategy tent in a few minutes," Nathan told the man. "I'm going to find Marth."

"You're bringing him in on this?"

The tactician nodded. "He's a legendary hero, and the biggest help we've got right now. Even if he doesn't know much about tactics, if he's fought Validar's army before, he'll probably have some sort of advice he can give us."

"Sounds good to me," Chrom conceded, sliding Falchion back into its hilt. "Lead the way."

For the first few minutes, there was an awkward silence between Nathan, Chrom, and Marth, as Nathan spread out a few maps on their strategy table. For the tactician and the Exalt, it was almost like being around a celebrity: they wanted to give a good first impression, and didn't want to say anything embarrassing.

The two exchanged awkward glances for a few minutes, before Chrom coughed loudly and Nathan finally took over.

"So, we need to get some reinforcements if we want to defeat Validar," The tactician explained. "But we also have to figure out what to do with the outrealm gate. We can't seal it forever, but a temporary fix to keep any other enemies out, while also giving you (He motioned to Marth) and that…Corrin…and his people a way home once this is finished.

Marth nodded. "Are you thinking of dividing the forces?" He inquired, starting to pick up on where Nathan was going.

The man nodded. "We have a few powerful friends to the north, in the opposite direction of the outrealms," Nathan explained. "Their assistance would be quite helpful."

"So, how do we split off?" Chrom asked curiously. "Who's going where?"

"If the two of you don't mind, I'd like to send you to check out the outrealm gate," Nathan replied. "You can take Sumia, and Morgan and Yarne as well...I wish our unit wasn't so small. Oh, and Corrin of course-"

"Oh no no no, I don't think so," Chrom replied with a smug grin. "You two need to resolve your differences. You're taking Corrin with you."

"What? Why!"

"Oh please, you know why. You two have to learn how to play nice."

Nathan let out an exasperated sigh, before conceding to the Exalt, which gave Marth a small chuckle.

"Fine. But that means I get more people to come with me to Ferox."

"What? Why's that?"

"To try and stop me if I have to strangle him, or punch him again, or something. You know. Precautionary reasons." Nathan replied, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Chrom and Marth laughed, although they did feel like that was a bit of a concern, admittedly. Nathan and Corrin certainly did not seem like they saw eye to eye.

"I want to send Lucina out to Mount Prism," Chrom explained. "She can get Libra and help to protect our children. Validar may not know about them quite yet, but they won't be safe up there forever. It seems like the safest place for them to be right now…but I can't say for how long that will be the case."

"I have an idea for somewhere safe. She can take them out of this realm," A voice called from nearby. Nathan and the others looked over to see Corrin entering the tent. He tossed a small pendant to Chrom, with a small golden dragon carved on the end.

"That thing can take people to the astral plane, home of the dragons," Corrin explained. "I have a castle there, where they will be safe."

"I'm not sure if I'd trust you with anything, let alone the lives of my children." Nathan spat at the Nohrian Prince, glaring harshly. "How do we know you're telling the truth, about anything?"

Corrin turned to Nathan and sighed. "Look, I know that coming here was a foolish and impulsive idea, and I am prepared to accept the consequences," He told the man. "But I want to do everything I can to defend your world, because it's my fault that it's in jeopardy in the first place."

Nathan scoffed. "Words aren't worth much, but it's a start," He told the man. "And…I suppose I do owe you an apology for what I did. That was...it wasn't me. It's not me. But regardless, I am willing to believe you on this plane you speak of being a safe place."

Corrin nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to send my daughter to the astral plane as well," He explained. "She's too young for all this war. One is enough for her."

Chrom nodded to the Nohrian Prince. "Do what you think is right for your daughter. She can go with Lucina to Mount Prism, as long as you're prepared to join our cause."

The Nohrian Prince put on a bit of a war scowl in response. "My blade is yours. Let's drive these dogs back to whatever hell they came from."

"Right, right, that's all well and good…" Nathan cut in impatiently, "…But we have work to do, and places to be."

He then turned to Chrom and Marth, nodding solemnly to the two men. "Don't die out there. If you get to the outrealms and it looks dangerous, lay low until we get there to help."

Chrom nodded in agreement. "Just try not to take long, all right?"

* * *

 **Hey folks - I start a new job tomorrow and I'm not sure how readily I'll have access to the internet. I'm going to be living in staff housing (I'm going quite a ways from home), and I can't quite say if I'll be able to continue uploading chapters regularly. So there might be a bit of a break in between these chapters coming up, I don't know yet. I'll do my best to provide an update along with the next chapter.**

 **Anyways, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. It's odd to write Nathan's character as being more 'unhinged' than usual, but I'm sure you can tell that he's like that for a reason...a more Grima related reason. ;)**

 **-Nate**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The next day, the shepherds split off into two groups. Nathan and his group began their trek to the frigid north of Regna Ferox, hoping to find Lon'qu, while Chrom, Marth and their team headed to the south, looking for some sort of answers at the outrealm gates.

Although there were so many other things weighing on his heart, and problems weighing upon his mind, Nathan knew he would have to keep a smile upon his face, to reassure the others, and also to mask his own pain. Without Chrom around, he was the highest-ranking member of the shepherds within his small squadron. His own concerns would have to be dealt with on his own time.

Ricken watched the tactician from afar, softly rubbing his chin in thought. Before they had split up, Chrom had pulled the young mage aside, telling him to 'keep an eye on' Nathan. It was unusual of the Exalt to request anything of him, and this was particularly troubling. Though he had to admit, Nathan seemed to be the most shaken by Frederick's death. As a longtime friend and comrade of the tactician, it was easy to see through the smiling façade he put on. Ever since the return of Validar and the death of their friend, there was a…troubling aura about the grandmaster of the shepherds. An aura Ricken hadn't felt since long ago – he just couldn't put a finger on when or where.

"Is something troubling you, my dear?" Panne asked curiously, pulling Ricken from his thoughtful gaze.

"It's nothing, Panne…" He muttered in reply, managing a quick glance back towards Nathan.

"I beg to differ," Panne replied, sniffing the air cautiously. "Your scent gives away your worriedness; a level of stress higher than usual. There is trouble in the air…"

Ricken sighed. Panne's extraordinary sense of smell was often quite helpful, but had the opposite effect in this case.

"Something's wrong with Nathan," The red-haired magician confessed. "Can you smell it on him?"

The Taguel woman nodded. "Some mix of fear, anger, and sorrow," She explained. "It's a unique scent…one I've only smelt once before."

Ricken's ears perked up at the comment. "When? Where? On who?"

"On the other. On Grima."

As they continued their trek through the northern forests of Ylisse, Corrin was beginning to have dark thoughts of his own. The guilt of his rash actions was beginning to seep in, and he was beginning to feel an emotion he had felt many times before: regret.

There was always a small voice in the back of his head, reprimanding him for brash actions.

" _You could have saved them, you know. Ryoma, Takumi, and now, Frederick. If you had changed your actions…done one thing differently…they would still be here. You are responsible for their deaths."_

The Nohrian Prince shook his head in frustration, trying to drive the painful memories from his head. Ryoma's final message to him echoed in his brain however, refusing to go away.

" _I'm counting on you."_

The group stopped for the night and set up camp near the north road, finding another dense forest area that would hopefully provide enough cover to keep them out of sight. Many went quickly off to bed, exhausted from the long day of travel, but there were a few still lost in thought.

Elise sat outside; watching the last few burning embers on the fire petered out into smoke. She had hardly known Frederick, and only ever talked to him once. That conversation, however, had a much bigger effect than she had ever expected it to.

 _As Frederick looked over Elise's tomes and staves, inspecting them for any sort of dark magic or hidden mechanisms, Elise sat on the bed nearby, watching anxiously. Owain had already left to find something to eat, leaving her alone with the great knight. He seemed nice enough at first, but appeared to have a no-nonsense policy when it came to protecting his homeland from possible harm._

" _This staff…" The great knight muttered, "It looks…strange. I have never seen anything like it around here."_

 _Elise looked over at Frederick, and noticed he was holding the Bifrost, the present she had been given by Corrin before heading to Ylisse. The Great Knight seemed particularly intrigued by it, carefully inspecting every section of the strange weapon. Elise could've sworn she saw the man try to sniff it a few times._

" _That's the Bifrost!" She explained cheerfully. "It can revive the dead, but only if you use it right away! Corrin, who is married to my daughter, gave it to me!"_

 _Frederick raised an eyebrow at Elise. "It can revive the dead?" He repeated skeptically. "This is quite the powerful staff then…"_

" _Yeah, but it can only be used once," Elise replied. "Kinda makes sense, considering how much work must go into bringing back dead people and all…"_

 _Frederick nodded, but appeared to have delved into other thoughts. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before he finally spoke up once more._

" _Lady Elise, I must ask you a favour." He told her._

 _The Nohrian Princess shrugged. "Uh, sure! What is it?"_

" _I cannot stop you from using this on those of your family, if it were ever needed, but I would like you to promise that you will save this for the death of a member of the lineage of Lord Chrom or Lord Nathan." Frederick told her, with a hint of sternness in his voice._

 _Elise looked somewhat taken aback by the request._

" _Does that include you?"_

 _Frederick quickly nodded. "My life would never be more important than the lives of my lieges," He explained. "I would never be able to forgive myself if you used this powerful magic for my own revival, if it lead to the demise of someone close to those I wish to protect."_

 _Elise took in a deep breath, thinking about the request for a moment, before finally sighing and nodding her head with a bit of a smile. "All right…I promise, Frederick. Ooh! Let's do a pinky swear, so I can't back out!"_

" _A pinky…who? I'm sorry, milady, I must keep foul language from entering my vocabulary, as a knight, it would set a bad example for those stationed beneath me…"_

 _Elise giggled. "A_ _ **pinky swear**_ _, Mr. Frederick!" She repeated once more. "No actual swearing involved!"_

 _The Princess held out her pinky. Frederick was skeptical at first, unsure if this was some sort of Nohrian trick, but finally interlocked his own pinky with Elise._

" _There! Now, it's a complete promise, and I can't back out!" The Princess explained to the great knight. The man's eyes widened as Elise told him this, appearing more and more intrigued by the newly discovered custom._

" _So, if I do this to Milord Chrom or Milord Nathan or Lady Lissa, it will force them to acknowledge my every warning to preserve their safety!" He declared, clearly misunderstanding the point of the tradition. He turned to Elise, who was now giving the man a horrified look, feeling as though she had given Frederick some sort of all-powerful tool, even though it was nothing of the sort._

" _That's not quite how it works-"_

" _I must study this newfound technique! Good day, Milady!" Frederick called, whizzing out of the door and down the hall, presumably to try and find Chrom or one of the others._

Elise sighed to herself, still staring back at the fire. It had been one of the hardest moments of her life, to have to watch a perfectly good person die, knowing there was a way to save him, yet she had promised not to use it for him. The Bifrost was becoming more of a burden than help, it seemed.

"No sleep for the weary, eh fluffs?"

The young Princess turned around to see Nathan walking up to her. He stood next to her for a few moments, staring at her hair before giving into his urges and squeezing the bottom of one of the pigtails. There was something about them that never failed to amuse the man.

"Yeah," Elise replied glumly, "Just…I mean…with everything that's happening…this isn't the way I thought it would be, coming here."

Nathan nodded, trying to figure out something to get his daughter-in-law's mind off the horrors of the past few days.

"Oh!" He suddenly exclaimed, remembering an intriguing tidbit of information. "So, Owain tells me you play violin?"

Elise smiled, blushing slightly. "Y - yeah, I dabble a bit, I guess…"

The tactician chuckled. "That's not the way Owain tells it," He replied. "He says you're amazing! I dabbled a bit myself on the violin, after the war, but I've never been one to practice it…"

The Princess giggled. "Oh, Odie always plays things up," She told him, trying to sound modest. "I'm really nothing special at it…"

Nathan grinned at her. "Well, I for one would love to hear it. I saw it in your tent when I was chatting with Owain, and couldn't help but be intrigued by it. I'm sure Lissa would love to hear you play too, if you don't mind having a small audience…"

Elise finally conceded to the man with a smile. After all, it would be nice to have a bit of a change of pace. "I'll be back in a few minutes, 'kay?"

Corrin was also having trouble sleeping, much to his own chagrin. It didn't come as much of a surprise, but was an annoyance nonetheless. The man had wandered off into the forest, looking for somewhere to be alone with his thoughts, before hearing a very familiar song being sung by a not-so-familiar voice from nearby.

" _You are the ocean's grey waves_

 _Destined to seek life beyond the shore, just out of reach_

 _Yet, the waters ever change_

 _Flowing like time_

 _The path is_

 _Yours to climb"_

The Prince was even more surprised when he found the source of the tune. It was Lissa, sitting out by a nearby pond next to Nathan as she sung and the two stared up at the star-filled sky. Sitting next to the two and playing the beautiful melody on her violin, was Elise. Owain sat close by, leaning up against a tree while he listened to the melody of his mother and his wife.

As he approached, Lissa's singing and Elise's playing suddenly cut off, as they noticed the young man walking up to them. However, the greeting from Nathan was much more pleasant than what he was used to.

"You too? Naga, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone else is simply sitting in their bedrolls with their eyes open…doesn't seem to be an easy night to get some sleep."

Corrin shook his head at the man. "Given what's gone on, what I've done, it will be a long time before I get a good night's rest again," He admitted.

Nathan frowned slightly. "You shouldn't put all the weight on yourself," He replied. "I know I might not be the best person to tell you that, given how I acted towards you, but…well, I'm sure it's something you've heard before."

Corrin grinned slightly, sitting down next to the small group. "I feel as though my older brother may have told me the same thing a time or two before…"

The white-haired prince looked over to Lissa. "You have quite the voice," He remarked. "And your playing is as beautiful as ever, Elise."

Lissa smiled at the Nohrian man. "Thanks! I don't sing much around other people, but Nathan seems to think I've got the voice for it…"

"Which you do. I know I'm right on that," The tactician added with a slight smirk.

"Well, perhaps when this is all over, I'll get a chance for a little concert with my darling daughter-in-law backing me up."

Elise giggled, and the group shared a small moment of calm happiness. It wasn't much, but it felt as though for a split second all their troubles had gone away.

"Hang on," Corrin muttered, "Aren't you worried about someone hearing the noise? The violin isn't exactly a quiet instrument…"

Nathan waved his hand slightly, and a small violet barrier came into view in the area surrounding the group.

"It's a soundproof enchantment," He explained. "You must've walked into the barrier when you were walking by, hence how you heard the sound."

Corrin nodded, slightly amused at the mastery of magic held by the tactician. "And what of the song? Is that native to here, or did Elise teach it to you? I didn't think anyone not from our home would have known it…"

"Elise taught it to me," Lissa replied. "She said it was the song of someone who had disappeared."

The Nohrian Prince nodded to the tactician, thinking about Azura. She was so mysterious in life, and her disappearance and presumed death simply added to the mystery.

"Anyways, we should probably head back to the camp," Nathan suggested, noticing that Elise had packed up her Violin back into it's case. Before he could get up, however, he noticed the Nohrian Princess had curled up next to the tactician, resting her head on the already sleeping Owain. There were slight quiet snores coming from her already, as it appeared she had already dozed off with a content smile on her face.

"…Or, we could just sleep here for the night…" He decided, getting a laugh from Corrin as well. It was only a few moments before Nathan gave into his body, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Lissa?"

Nathan's eyes opened slowly, and he could immediately tell something was off. Not only was he alone in the woods after falling asleep with the others the night before, but also the skies above were an ominous shade of purple.

Wherever he was, it wasn't Ylisse.

"Must be…some kind of dream," He deduced. However, this made him even more confused. Normally, this was the part where he woke up.

"Well now, it took you long enough," A familiar malicious voice chuckled from behind the tactician. Nathan spun around to see…himself? Not quite, there were a few differences between himself and the doppelganger. Not only were his eyes coloured in an odd dark purple, but his body was covered in all sorts of ghastly open wounds, but rather than bleeding, a familiar purple mist was coming from them.

"…Grima?" Nathan replied, his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and uneasy hostility. He reached for Mystletainn on his back, but his hand couldn't find the blade.

"No weapons," The fell doppelganger replied, with a hint of exhaustion in his voice. "Just a…chat. Between two old friends."

The tactician raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I'll start us off, then, with the biggest question – how are you here? I killed you – and killed myself in the process. You shouldn't be alive."

"Life has a funny way of working, doesn't it?" Grima replied. "You are correct – I shouldn't be here. You killed me when you used your hand to strike me down, the hand of a fell blood. I thought I was gone for sure – and for so long, I was. I remember nothing since then – up until a moment, just a few days before now. You fell into a fit of rage, and I felt the power of the fell dragon coursing through my – no, **our –** veins, once again. It was faint, but I was alive, within you, as I am now."

"Within me?" Nathan repeated, flabbergasted. "We may have looked the same, but we've always been two separate entities, from different timelines, how is that possible?"

"You've met with our father, haven't you?" Grima replied with a wicked smile. "I have no doubt this is his work. He has awakened me once more, with a second opportunity to finish what I started so long ago."

"Chrom and I have stopped you before, and we'll have no qualms with doing it again," Nathan snapped back. Grima laughed at the reply, giving the tactician an eerie glance as he began to fade into nothingness, giving off the same purple miasma that had surrounded Validar.

"You always were too fond of your precious exalt," He mused, "But how will he help you stop me when you and I are now one and the same? You think he would kill you – just to kill me?"

With that, Nathan's eyes snapped open and he awoke in a cold sweat, sitting up abruptly. He was back in the forest, and looked down to see the now awake Lissa staring up at him, with an equally scared look on her face.

"That can't be good," She whispered softly, so the others wouldn't hear. She knew her husband like the back of her hand, and she could easily tell the difference between a simple nightmare and something else entirely.

Nathan nodded to her. "…There's something wrong with me," He admitted. "There's another voice in my head, deep inside me…and it seems like it'll only get stronger."

"What do you mean?"

The tactician looked down at the sleeping Owain and Elise next to them, and then over to Corrin, who had also passed out nearby.

"Not here. Not now."

He could feel a slight burning sensation on the back of his arm once more, and he looked down to see a sight he had hoped to never see again.

The mark of Grima had returned.

* * *

 **Hey guys, sorry that this is such a small chapter - I thought it was better as a stand-alone section rather than being coupled with something else, even if it is much shorter than everything else. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon to keep things moving along since I know this isn't a lot to read. Hopefully you'll all stick with this story moving forward, I should be back to uploading again now that I'm back home :)**

 **Thanks for the support! -Nate**


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